No one likes keeping track of their data use. Even when we have widgets to keep us on top of things, it’s just an ever-present specter reminding us that we aren’t getting everything out of our phones that we might be able to, since data service is just so expensive. In recent years, we’ve seen the major US carriers heavily scale back any unlimited data offerings, preferring tiered plans instead; the latest are these tiered family plans. Just last month, though, T-Mobile came forward with a new unlimited account; was the tide about to change? Not if Verizon has anything to say about it, as some recent comments from Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo come off as nothing short of hostile towards unlimited data.

Shammo thinks that tiered data is a huge success, and points to the number of users who had been on grandfathered unlimited plans, and are now switching to the carrier’s tiered family plans. A more sensible observation may be that these users wanted to upgrade their phones without paying full price out-of-pocket, and view abandoning their unlimited data as a necessary compromise; not in Shammo’s mind, though – they prefer having to watch their data consumption.

He goes on to make it clear just how much of a disconnect Verizon has with its users, saying that “unlimited is just a word” and that “it doesn’t really mean anything….The whole unlimited thing is going by the wayside.”

Quite to the contrary, “unlimited” means not having to track down a WiFi point when you want to use Netflix, being able to video chat without a moment’s hesitation, and storing all your pics, videos, and music on the cloud for safe keeping. So no, Mr. Shammo, it’s a little more than “just a word”.